THE POWER OF WORDS




They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Have you ever noticed that some teachers and preachers speak with total confidence and authority whereas most do not? What is the difference? It is experiential knowledge. Their knowledge doesn’t come from having read the Good Book but from living it! However, no matter how powerful their sermons might be, and how transformational, they cannot match the power and authority of someone who walked upon this earth two thousand years ago, because he WAS power and authority. His name was Jesus. 

When he declared something, it happened. He said to the storm, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm (Mark 4:39). He said to a little girl who was dead, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” And immediately the girl got up (Mark 5:41). He said to the leper, “Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed (Matthew 8:3). And here, in today’s story, we see him command an unclean spirit, “Be silent and come out of him!: And the unclean spirit came out.

But there are a few more lessons to be learned from this story. Notice the sequence of events described in this story. An evil spirit in a man begins this conversation with Jesus. It is part challenge, part fear. Now look at Jesus’ method. First, he seizes the opportunity to help somebody. A problem arose and he took care of it. Decisively. There was no hesitation, no prevarication. He handled it without fuss. Second, he doesn’t make a big production out of it. He doesn’t yell and rant and scream, knock the demon out, kick him a bit, and then cast him into hell. He just says, “Be silent and get out.” And the demon was out. And, third, he doesn’t go about bragging about what he had done. 

As followers of Christ, we want to live our lives in imitation of him. We are, after all, created in his image and likeness. Consequently, we need to follow his example. We also need to remember that if his words have power, so do ours. Scripture tells us that “death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits” (Proverbs 18:21) Our words have the power over life and death, yet we take the things we say very casually. We curse people, we slander them, we say idiotic things in anger.

Let our words be kind and gentle and tender instead. Let them be life-giving, not life-taking.

And we will also see amazing things happen as a result.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let’s Get Healed - A Reflection on Matthew 18:21-19:1

Image
  Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, an
Read more

Patience - A Reflection on Luke 2:33-35.

Image
  And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”   This is probably the shortest passage that we have reflected upon this year. In it, we find a man named Simeon making a prophecy about three things. One, about Jesus. Two, about the people of Israel. And three, about the pain that Jesus’ mother Mary would go through. We have seen all his prophecies came true. But who is Simeon? And what can we learn from him? Ok. On the 40th day of his birth, Jesus is taken by Mary and Joseph to the temple to be officially inducted into the Jewish faith. When they were there, a man named Simeon came in to see them.   He is described as “righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the H
Read more

Dying and Killing

  The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled— can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier,
Read more